RAPHOE MADE THE long trip to Kilkeel on Saturday and dug deep to bring home a valuable point.
Kilkeel 2-2 Raphoe
Second placed and Premier League veterans Kilkeel have dropped very few points this season so a draw away to them was a credit to the Raphoe men.
Kilkeel will be disappointed with the draw as they hoped to push leaders Instonians right to the wire with two league games remaining. Having lead twice throughout the game, on another day, Raphoe may have brought all three points down the road.
Kilkeel dominated possession for large periods of the game but failed to create many clear cut chances from open play.
They relied on short corners to test the Raphoe goalkeeper. Jonny Rankin was having none of it however and pulled off several good saves to keep the game scoreless. Raphoe took the lead midway through the half from a short corner of their own.
The first shot was easily cleared but fell straight to Keith Meehan outside the circle, who remained cool on the ball to get another shot away. The Kilkeel keeper saved again but the ball this time fell to Ben Wallace on the flick spot, who made no mistake firing home. 1-0 to the away side.
Kilkeel continued to put the pressure on Raphoe and it finally gave way when they equalised from the flick spot.
A Kilkeel short corner was stopped on the goal line by Keith Meehan’s foot, resulting in a penalty stroke. This was coolly executed high into the net past Rankin. The half ended 1-1.
At half time coach Rodney Bates was happy with his sides effort to still be in the game but was concerned about the number of short corners they were conceding.
This trend continued in the second half and possibly cost Raphoe the win. Ten minutes into the second half Raphoe regained their lead when Stephen Cleverly scored a peach of a reverse high into the top right corner.
Kilkeel were pressing high up the pitch and Raphoe caught them on the break. A clearance from the back fell to Keith Meehan on the left wing. Meehan picked out Cleverly inside the Kilkeel twenty five. Cleverly showed some nice skill to weave his way into the circle and fired home on his favoured reverse to bring the score to 2-1.
Raphoe didn’t create a great deal more but Kilkeel won several more short corners and from one of these they drag flicked home to draw level.
Kilkeel had every opportunity in the final ten minutes to win the game but saw every effort thwarted or go narrowly wide. Credit must go to Raphoe‘s back four of Goudie, Wauchope, Stewart and Meehan who were under pressure for vast portions of the game, but they dug deep and helped earn their team a valuable draw.
Raphoe host league leaders Instonians at The Royal and Prior School grounds this Saturday and they will be hoping to cause another upset.
Team: Johnny Rankin, Simon Goudie, Alexander Tinney, Ben Wallace, William Wauchope, Paul Stewart, Alan Meehan, Keith Meehan, Ian McGonigle, Luke Witherow, Stephen Cleverley, Alan Lyttle, Adrian Crumley, Stuart Stevenson. Coach: Rodney Bates.
